We have a small hill-park directly across from my school, and in fact my desk looks directly out the window at it. It's nice to watch it change as it cycles though the seasons: at the moment, of course, it is lush and green with the warmth of summer. There are benches and exercise equipment, and it's a fairly quiet spot to spend a little bit of time. There are several nice pavilions (which I often use for meditation in the morning) and one half-cave. It's only half a meter high and filled with broken rocks and garbage: it is blocked off after about seven or eight meters. The park's name is Jjong-bong Park, and it is a green island in an ocean of look-alike apartment buildings.
So, I was sitting on a bench eating lunch yesterday. My wife made me some egg-salad sandwiches (with tomatoes!) , and I was taking a break from the tyranny of grading tests. I was eating and reading ("The Martians", by Kim Stanley Robinson) when I heard a ruffling in the bushes a few meters in front of me. I expected black squirrels: there are several that live in the park. What did I see instead? Rats!
Two big, beautiful, black rats chasing each other along the fence. I know what you're thinking. Who could get excited about rats? ("Only Dale..." Hey! I heard that!)
I'm from rural Michigan, and grew up with lots of animals around me all the time. We had horses, ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys, and other creatures besides. I used to have a scar on my elbow from where the goat attacked me. I probably have a hoof-shaped scar on my head from where my horse, Boulder, kicked me (I hear you thinking: so that's what happened!). In America, animals are a fact of life.
South Korea often appears curiously sterile to me. For the most part, wild animals other than birds and chipmunks are removed from the lives of the normal city-dwelling citizen. If they do see something like a little roe deer, it's not just unusual, it's downright strange. I tell my students I grew up with horses and deer, and they think I'm rich; they have no idea of life in an animal-filled environment.
So, yes. I'm happy to see rats. Any animal life is better than no animal life at all.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Leona on a Bike
Leona got her first real bike yesterday. Okay, it has training wheels on it. And she didn't really get it: it's her cousin's bike, but he's too small for it yet. Let's hope she doesn't tear it up in the meantime ,or we'll have to buy Min-gun a new one!
She was riding it down the walking trail behind our house when I realized how big she was getting. Yesterday, she was just was a baby, today she's riding her first bike, tomorrow she'll probably have a boyfriend. Time flies like an arrow, as they're fond of saying in Korea. We're both getting older, Leona and I. As I was walking next to her and pushing her along when she got stuck, I couldn't help but think of the poem "My son, my executioner" by Donald Hall.
I was very proud of her, watching her peddle her little heart out, and wondered if my parents felt the same way about me when I took those small steps toward independence and adulthood. My mother claims that I had a hard time learning to ride a bike actually, but I don't believe her! What could be hard about riding a bike?
Leona owes her existence to Buddhism, actually. I had ridden up to Bodhisattva temple, which is one of my favorite mountain temples, and fairly close. While I was there, I saw the cutest little boy in the main hall, and his older sister was teaching him to bow in front of the statue. And my heart just kind of melted: after I talked to Helen about this, my wife and I thought seriously about having a child.
Neither one of us had originally planned to have a child: we'd gotten married and decided not to have kids. I was never one of those get-married-and-have-kids type. I never dreamed of a son or a daughter. Heck, I had never even considered marriage until my 30s.
Why did we call her Leona, incidentally? My paternal grandfather's name is Leo. My father's middle name is Leo. My middle name is Leon. But that's not the reason!
Most Korean woman have a baby dream: a special and particularly vivid dream that announces they are pregnant, and gives them a hint of the gender and personality of the child.
My wife had her baby dream: she and I were sitting on the steps of a traditional Korean house when the gate opened, and a shining white lion pushed her way in. My wife was scared and tried to shoo it away, but would not leave. So we called our baby Leona, which of course means lion. A friend gave us a list of lion names in all kinds of languages: that one seemed to fit her the best.
Aside from a long mane of hair and an occasionally fierce temperament, she exhibits no other lion-like qualities. Somewhat to my relief.
She was riding it down the walking trail behind our house when I realized how big she was getting. Yesterday, she was just was a baby, today she's riding her first bike, tomorrow she'll probably have a boyfriend. Time flies like an arrow, as they're fond of saying in Korea. We're both getting older, Leona and I. As I was walking next to her and pushing her along when she got stuck, I couldn't help but think of the poem "My son, my executioner" by Donald Hall.
I was very proud of her, watching her peddle her little heart out, and wondered if my parents felt the same way about me when I took those small steps toward independence and adulthood. My mother claims that I had a hard time learning to ride a bike actually, but I don't believe her! What could be hard about riding a bike?
Leona owes her existence to Buddhism, actually. I had ridden up to Bodhisattva temple, which is one of my favorite mountain temples, and fairly close. While I was there, I saw the cutest little boy in the main hall, and his older sister was teaching him to bow in front of the statue. And my heart just kind of melted: after I talked to Helen about this, my wife and I thought seriously about having a child.
Neither one of us had originally planned to have a child: we'd gotten married and decided not to have kids. I was never one of those get-married-and-have-kids type. I never dreamed of a son or a daughter. Heck, I had never even considered marriage until my 30s.
Why did we call her Leona, incidentally? My paternal grandfather's name is Leo. My father's middle name is Leo. My middle name is Leon. But that's not the reason!
Most Korean woman have a baby dream: a special and particularly vivid dream that announces they are pregnant, and gives them a hint of the gender and personality of the child.
My wife had her baby dream: she and I were sitting on the steps of a traditional Korean house when the gate opened, and a shining white lion pushed her way in. My wife was scared and tried to shoo it away, but would not leave. So we called our baby Leona, which of course means lion. A friend gave us a list of lion names in all kinds of languages: that one seemed to fit her the best.
Aside from a long mane of hair and an occasionally fierce temperament, she exhibits no other lion-like qualities. Somewhat to my relief.
"Drag Me to Hell" Review (light spoilers)
I've never really been into horror movies. Although I occasionally enjoy them, I don't generally seek them out. However, I heard some good things about "Drag", so when it came to Korea, I decided to see it. I saw it with my friend Alan on Saturday night at Kinopia.
And was it good? Well, it wasn't bad. It kept my interest, and was worth my $7 if barely.
The plot? The old gypsy woman curses a beautiful woman to go to hell in three days. A spirit arrives and torments her during that time. Obviously, she takes steps to avoid going to hell. Who wouldn't? And was she successful? Ah, that would be telling, wouldn't it?
It was fairly gory, with rotten corpses, demonic beasts, open graves, and slimy worms. The noisy girls in front of us jumped and screamed (I only jumped), and what more do you want from a horror movie? It was, however, quite predictable: both Alan and I figured out the basic ending (I was a little wrong on details) way before it happened.
I couldn't really warm up to the woman. If you can picture Gwen Stacy from the Spiderman comic books, she's a dead ringer. One of the reasons why I couldn't much like her was that her ethical-choice score sheet was fairly mixed, and tended towards failing. Actions have consequences, right? She fails the first one in a big way, which leads to the curse in the place. She fails the second one, easily. The third one she squeaks by, but barely. But perhaps her moral failings make her more than one-dimensional? We've all done things we're not proud of, after all: that's part of being human.
The very best part of the movie, in my opinion, was a short 20 second conversation regarding cats and the lack of them. It was easily worth the seven dollar ticket. The worse part? A strange place to keep something very heavy.
In short: if you have time to kill and a few bucks to waste, and if you generally like scary movies, you'll probably not dislike this movie. While a little silly at times, it had its moments.
And was it good? Well, it wasn't bad. It kept my interest, and was worth my $7 if barely.
The plot? The old gypsy woman curses a beautiful woman to go to hell in three days. A spirit arrives and torments her during that time. Obviously, she takes steps to avoid going to hell. Who wouldn't? And was she successful? Ah, that would be telling, wouldn't it?
It was fairly gory, with rotten corpses, demonic beasts, open graves, and slimy worms. The noisy girls in front of us jumped and screamed (I only jumped), and what more do you want from a horror movie? It was, however, quite predictable: both Alan and I figured out the basic ending (I was a little wrong on details) way before it happened.
I couldn't really warm up to the woman. If you can picture Gwen Stacy from the Spiderman comic books, she's a dead ringer. One of the reasons why I couldn't much like her was that her ethical-choice score sheet was fairly mixed, and tended towards failing. Actions have consequences, right? She fails the first one in a big way, which leads to the curse in the place. She fails the second one, easily. The third one she squeaks by, but barely. But perhaps her moral failings make her more than one-dimensional? We've all done things we're not proud of, after all: that's part of being human.
The very best part of the movie, in my opinion, was a short 20 second conversation regarding cats and the lack of them. It was easily worth the seven dollar ticket. The worse part? A strange place to keep something very heavy.
In short: if you have time to kill and a few bucks to waste, and if you generally like scary movies, you'll probably not dislike this movie. While a little silly at times, it had its moments.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Another suicide, another funeral
Is it just me, or do a lot of people seem to be dying lately? Once again, this blog is forced to address a death.
I'm off to Jinchon tonight with my wife's family. My wife's first sister's husband's father is dead, and we must visit and bow to his funeral home portrait.
Although he was 88, the man's death was not a natural one. What it comes down to: my sister-in-law and her husband did not attend the father's birthday party. Therefore, the father got depressed and drank nung-yak, literally farming medicine: in other words, pesticide. He tossed off a shot glass's worth, which was enough to put him in the hospital to suffer for a week, but not enough to kill him right away. Interestingly, one of my wife's old friends also committed suicide in the exact same way. Only being much younger and stronger, he lingered in the hospital for several months before dying.
As my friend Tim contemptuously mentioned, banning the word suicide in search engines (in Korean, Ja-sal, literally self-kill, just as it is in English) is hardly a good way to address the problem. It's a bandaid on a gaping wound. Suicide is happening all the time here: for instance a boy killed himself at a school down the street after being punished by the teacher just the other day. The Korean government needs to think about serious solutions to this problem. With one of the world's lowest birth rates and highest suicide rates, the great Korean nation is gradually eroding away.
In other death-related news, a strange and shocking story from the newspaper yesterday. A man had his licence suspended for drunk driving. His suspension time almost finished, he was driving illegally and under the influence of alchohol at the same time. He hit a boy with his car, causing minor injuries. He took the boy to the hospital, but they sent him to another, bigger hospital. Instead of taking him there, he drove the boy to a mountain and killed him with an airgun used for hunting, as he was afraid to lose his license again.
I'll be more cheerful next time.
I'm off to Jinchon tonight with my wife's family. My wife's first sister's husband's father is dead, and we must visit and bow to his funeral home portrait.
Although he was 88, the man's death was not a natural one. What it comes down to: my sister-in-law and her husband did not attend the father's birthday party. Therefore, the father got depressed and drank nung-yak, literally farming medicine: in other words, pesticide. He tossed off a shot glass's worth, which was enough to put him in the hospital to suffer for a week, but not enough to kill him right away. Interestingly, one of my wife's old friends also committed suicide in the exact same way. Only being much younger and stronger, he lingered in the hospital for several months before dying.
As my friend Tim contemptuously mentioned, banning the word suicide in search engines (in Korean, Ja-sal, literally self-kill, just as it is in English) is hardly a good way to address the problem. It's a bandaid on a gaping wound. Suicide is happening all the time here: for instance a boy killed himself at a school down the street after being punished by the teacher just the other day. The Korean government needs to think about serious solutions to this problem. With one of the world's lowest birth rates and highest suicide rates, the great Korean nation is gradually eroding away.
In other death-related news, a strange and shocking story from the newspaper yesterday. A man had his licence suspended for drunk driving. His suspension time almost finished, he was driving illegally and under the influence of alchohol at the same time. He hit a boy with his car, causing minor injuries. He took the boy to the hospital, but they sent him to another, bigger hospital. Instead of taking him there, he drove the boy to a mountain and killed him with an airgun used for hunting, as he was afraid to lose his license again.
I'll be more cheerful next time.
Busy busy busy
Well, end of the semester madness here at Galactic Dharma headquarters. I am atrociously, absurdly, and insanely busy. Sorry I've not written much lately: I usually write these in my work downtime, and there's been precious little of that lately.
I just finished giving and grading (groan) a writing test. An hour ago, I finished writing the Idiom / Vocabulary test for next week. Next year, I've got to start it earlier! It took me several hours today to finish it. In two days I've got to judge a middle school speech contest, which is usually a mixed bag. Some are great, some are ... not so great.
The students have practice SATS today (better them than me!), so while I'm not teaching today, I still have to be here. The exam days are catch-up days for me, and trust me, this close to the end of the semester, I need them.
In book news, I finally finished the 11 book "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind, which I enjoyed. Each book was around 1000 pages, so it was a major investment in time, but more or less worthwhile. It got a little preachy and overly complicated at times, and I hated book 8, but nobody is perfect all the time. And, unlike Stephen King's seven book "Dark series", I thought the ending was satisfactory.
In other book news, I'm rereading one of my favorite serious books: "Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides of Awakening and and their Modern expression". It sounds heavy, but it's not: reading it is like visiting an old friend.
I recently reconnected with an old friend though facebook. When I lived in Roanoke VA, Gary was my best friend. Moving away, I lost track of him. I was putting random names in the facebook seach field when he popped up. I sent him a message, although I was unsure of it was actually him, but lo and behold, it was. Say what you want about Facebook, for finding and keeping old friends, it's great.
Okay, well I suppose I should go back to work. I'll write more often, I promise!
I just finished giving and grading (groan) a writing test. An hour ago, I finished writing the Idiom / Vocabulary test for next week. Next year, I've got to start it earlier! It took me several hours today to finish it. In two days I've got to judge a middle school speech contest, which is usually a mixed bag. Some are great, some are ... not so great.
The students have practice SATS today (better them than me!), so while I'm not teaching today, I still have to be here. The exam days are catch-up days for me, and trust me, this close to the end of the semester, I need them.
In book news, I finally finished the 11 book "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind, which I enjoyed. Each book was around 1000 pages, so it was a major investment in time, but more or less worthwhile. It got a little preachy and overly complicated at times, and I hated book 8, but nobody is perfect all the time. And, unlike Stephen King's seven book "Dark series", I thought the ending was satisfactory.
In other book news, I'm rereading one of my favorite serious books: "Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides of Awakening and and their Modern expression". It sounds heavy, but it's not: reading it is like visiting an old friend.
I recently reconnected with an old friend though facebook. When I lived in Roanoke VA, Gary was my best friend. Moving away, I lost track of him. I was putting random names in the facebook seach field when he popped up. I sent him a message, although I was unsure of it was actually him, but lo and behold, it was. Say what you want about Facebook, for finding and keeping old friends, it's great.
Okay, well I suppose I should go back to work. I'll write more often, I promise!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
[From my dream last night].
"Oh, and I suppose the corpse got bored hanging around the morgue, and decided to catch some rays on the beach!" the policeman said sarcastically.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)